BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 10

Illustrations

Prologue:Rebirth

Chapter 7: Siblings

Chapter 8: Thought and Felt

Chapter 9: Intervention

Chapter 10: Encounter

Chapter 11: Fusion

Epilogue

Extra Chapter: Fragments

Afterword

Part 1

It was still a little early in the evening. The western sky was dyed in the colors of dusk, but the eastern sky still retained the colors of an afternoon that could be called day.

It was a time when many people were out and about in the city. But here, it is just the other side of a disconnected world.

A large, hollow sound echoed from the construction site of a new building, where materials covered with blue tarps were piled up here and there, surrounded by thin walls.

The hard, flat, leveled ground kicked up a low cloud of dust. The ground, which had been meticulously prepared, was now sunken in the center, as if to undo the work done by human hands the previous week when construction had stopped. From this source, numerous shallow cracks ran in all directions.

At the center of the cracks stood a man. Tall and broad, his silhouette, illuminated by the wishful moonlight, resembled that of a giant beast. His roughly styled hair, which had been swept back and pinned down, looked almost like a “1.”

But he was in human form, at least for now.

“...Boring.” He muttered in a low growl, his voice muffled by his tight suit. Valkenhayn Helsing withdrew the foot he had just slammed into the ground. Underneath it was a crushed insect about the size of a human baby. Its rounded back was covered in thick, hard skin, and beneath it were scissor-like jaws and sickle-like claws. But the strange insect was no longer moving.

The armor on its back, its pride and joy, had been shattered, and one of its sickle-like claws was missing. It had leaped at Valkenhayn, been grabbed, slammed into the ground, and then stomped on with all his might. Just that was enough to make the bug cease functioning.

"Why do we have to be sent out to exterminate insects? Searching for insects and crushing them, searching for insects and crushing them... I didn't come to this country to do such boring chores!" Ignoring the bug’s bodily fluids that splattered on his shoe, Valkenhayn looked up and let out a furious shout toward his target.

His target was a slender young man standing with his arms crossed against the wall of the construction site. Like Valkenhayn, he was wearing a suit, but the purple cloak he wore over it was an eye-catching contrast. Furthermore, a black leather band concealed both of his eyes beneath his thin golden bangs, giving him an even more bizarre appearance.

This was Relius Clover. Compared to the robust Valkenhayn, his physique was ordinary, and if he removed his unusual attire, he could blend into the everyday scenery without a problem. But in an emotionless voice that conveyed none of that calm scenery, Relius responded coldly.

"I've already been paid. It's a job."

"That again! Does your so-called great research really cost that much?!" With no interest left, Valkenhayn stepped over the bug’s corpse and strode towards Relius. In an attempt to extinguish his burning frustration, Relius remained unmoved as he responded.

“It does.”

The way he said it, without any hesitation or even a hint of feeling the need to justify himself, left Valkenhayn speechless, more out of astonishment than anger. It was almost ridiculous to even reply.

Coolly ignoring Valkenhayn's condescending glare, Relius pulled his cell phone from his suit pocket and contacted the Mitsurugi Agency. He informed them that the extermination of the bugs was complete and that they should come to collect the corpses if needed, then abruptly hung up.

"...'The creation of a perfect doll'... was it?" Valkenhayn glanced at Relius’s phone as if it were something detestable and spat out the words. It was the 'goal' that Relius had been talking about for some time. He needed money for his research. That's why he was cooperating with the Mitsurugi Agency. And through the work assigned to him by the Mitsurugi Agency, he was looking for 'strong souls' needed for his research.

Valkenhayn was cooperating with the Mitsurugi Agency and killing immortals because he sought stronger enemies.

Strong beings. In that regard, their goals aligned. But it was not as if they respected each other's purposes or philosophies.

“A research that requires pouring money and souls into it can’t possibly be a legitimate one!” Valkenhayn's words were laced with disdain.

Having grown accustomed to such remarks, Relius didn’t even bother to throw a concealed glance back. He walked past his sturdy partner, heading toward the corpse of the crushed bug.

“More importantly, Valkenhayn, about the Apostle's corpse we saw earlier…” Relius looked down at the almost lifeless, crushed bug with apparent disinterest. This was the second time that night he had looked down at a bug's corpse. However, the first one had not been something they had slain.

Valkenhayn crossed his powerful arms over his thick chest.

"...Yes. There's no doubt about it. There are others hunting Spinner’s Apostles besides us."

The grotesque Apostles usually prefer to remain unseen. They lurk in the shadows, moving in the darkness where no human can see them, suddenly reaching out from the darkness.

Therefore, ordinary people walking through the brightly lit downtown area would never be able to find them. Even if they did, they would probably die the next moment. In other words, someone who cannot be considered an ordinary person was exterminating the bugs separately from Valkenhayn and the others.

"They're quite enthusiastic about it, aren't they?" Rellius muttered to himself in a monotone. Just yesterday and the day before, he and Valkenhayn had discovered corpses of Apostles they hadn’t killed. Both were likely the work of the same person. They featured slashes that were remarkably sharp and persistent.

"...Interesting."

Who could be the wielder of those slashing attacks that tore apart the Apostles? Without moving his gaze from the brutally destroyed corpse at his feet, Relius lightly rested his clenched hand against his chin.

"How's Kiiro?" Rellius answered without looking back at the bored Valkenhayn.

“She’s in the middle of adjustments.”

“Adjustments? What are you adjusting...?”

Before Valkenhayn could finish his question, a sharp slicing sound cut through the air. Both of them gasped, but Valkenhayn reacted faster. He kicked the ground hard enough to kick up dust and jumped aside, just as a small figure dove in.

With a flutter, like petals in the wind, a pale pink figure danced into sight.

“Relius!” With a yell of warning, sparks flew right in front of Relius. A dull sound came from the white artificial arm that appeared under Rellius's cloak and caught the hard metal.

What was caught was an attack.

It was a slash from a Japanese sword, which gleamed ominously under the brightness of the still-setting sun.

"……Daughter?" Staring at the attacker up close, Relius muttered suspiciously.

The one who jumped in was a girl. Still a child. With black hair tied up like bird feathers, her small frame was clad in a kimono of pale pink and light purple. In her white hand, the girl wielded a katana—an impressive sword that seemed far too heavy for her small stature—and she quickly sheathed it back at her waist.

Suddenly leaping into the scene was Saya Terumi.

Her sharp, clear red eyes glinted coldly as she crouched low and swiftly created some distance.

"Valkenhayn Hellsing?"

Saya, Relius, and Valkenhayn now stood at equal distances from each other, unexpectedly separated. Saya looked back and forth between the man whose eyes were covered with a black belt and the tall, sturdy man. Her voice, still tinged with childish innocence, was strangely cold for someone in her early teens. Both Relius and Valkenhayn could sense a chilling aura devoid of warmth.

"Do you know her?" Relius asked, looking at Valkenhayn. Valkenhayn furrowed his thick eyebrows, staring intently at the kimono-clad girl who had barged in.

"No, I don’t."

"But it seems she has business with you." Assuming he was no longer involved, Relius calmly crossed between Valkenhayn and Saya, moving to the edge of the construction site. As Relius retreated as if to take a spectator's seat, Valkenhayn naturally found himself face to face with Saya.

"What do you want, little girl?" Valkenhayn asked the unknown girl with an intimidating weight. He wrinkled his high, bony nose. There was an unpleasant smell coming from her. An ominous scent. Even without a keen sense of smell, anyone who would boldly enter while wielding a sword could not be considered a gentle creature.

Saya straightened her back and stared at the man standing in front of her. There was no fear or hesitation in her eyes. Instead, there was a sense of exhilaration, as if she had finally found what she was looking for, and a cold, focused determination to target her prey.

Her eyes were not those of an ordinary girl. Valkenhayn’s stern expression grew wary.

"...Valkenhayn Hellsing." Saya's lips once again spoke the name of her target. The moment Valkenhayn tried to respond, the distance between them shrank to almost zero.

It was unclear when or how she had kicked off the ground. But Saya, without a moment's pause, advanced to the front of the sturdy big man and spun her body in mid-air.

She had the lightness of flower petals dancing in the spring breeze. Yet she was as swift as spring thunder.

Her sword drew faster than her breath. The delicate hands of the girl, as if arranging flowers, gripped the hilt tightly, and she slashed upward from a diagonal angle with the speed of wind sweeping across the fields.

"Ugh...!" Valkenhayn arched his back and jumped back forcefully. He twisted his body almost forcefully, planting one hand on the ground to jump away. The blade grazed past his shoulder, cutting into him. It hadn’t reached the flesh, but the thin fabric was slightly torn, and Valkenhayn was in pain. His eyes widened in astonishment more than in pain.

“How… fast!” From a distant spectator's seat, Relius voiced admiration.

Given Valkenhayn’s robust physique and rough demeanor, one might expect him to rely on brute strength in battle. However, his true strength lies in his speed. That there exists a human capable of moving at a speed that even he cannot perceive—especially a human girl—is astonishing.

"That bug is my prey. I would appreciate it if you would stay out of this." With a steady posture, Saya returned her sword to its sheath and sent a cold warning. Her unwavering gaze suggested that she would cut anyone who didn't listen. She was clearly an extremist.

Valkenhayn raised an eyebrow in displeasure.

"If you don't want me to interfere, you should take care of it before we do. If you have time to attack us for no good reason, why don't you just go exterminate some bugs somewhere else!"

"No. I'm not aiming for your neck just for the sake of killing a bug. Valkenhayn Hellsing. Your crime is..."

The cold atmosphere around Saya suddenly began to heat up. Like icicles smoldering from within and eventually bursting into flames, Saya was filled with rage and killing intent.

"For killing my older brother!"

In the blink of an eye, Saya moved behind Valkenhayn. She skidded to a halt, tracing a half-circle with her foot, then spun on the spot to draw her sword in a fluid motion. The sound of the blade unsheathing was crisp and cool. An icy coldness crawled up his neck, and Valkenhayn kicked off the ground before he could think.

In his human form, he wouldn’t make it in time. Driven by a primal instinct akin to that of a beast, he transformed into a wolf. As he leaped higher than the slash aimed at him, he kicked off the air, performing a somersault and landing on the opposite side of the ground littered with insect corpses.

Even so, Saya's sword grazed his fur, scattering it into the air.

"This... is quite the soul." Relius stepped forward, suddenly interested. He wanted to test the girl's true worth for himself. But Valkenhayn’s angry voice interrupted his second step.

"Don't touch her! I'll do it!" Transforming back from wolf to human form, Valkenhayn finally readied himself for battle. He tore off his formal tie and discarded it, loosening the collar of his shirt.

"I don't know anything about your brother, but I'll make you regret attacking me recklessly!"

"......As expected." Relius had expected that response. He shrugged his shoulders and took a step back.

Valkenhayn bared his sharp, canine teeth, his eyes gleaming with the desire to fight. He no longer thought of the girl as just a young opponent. To Valkenhayn, that girl was now an enemy. Moreover, she was an enemy that had forced him to transform so quickly.

Valkenhayn resented being forced to transform. It wasn’t that he disliked his wolf form; he simply didn’t want to have to rely on the transformation to amplify his already considerable physical abilities.

He didn't like being so easily cornered in this situation.

And it very simply ignited his fighting spirit.

"Don't kill her. I want to examine that girl." Though he said that, he wondered how much he could truly expect. In front of the watching Relius, Valkenhayn and Saya moved almost simultaneously.

Part 2

Saya was still faster at closing the distance. She moved with a speed as if she were teleporting. She dashed past Valkenhayn's side in an instant. But if you knew she was fast, there was a corresponding way to deal with her. Drawing her sword with the intent to sever his head, Valkenhayn twisted his body before he could even see her. Not to dodge, but to deliver a powerful kick.

For a moment, Saya's eyes widened slightly in alarm. It seemed she hadn't anticipated the attack, given the speed and reaction time required. Holding the sheathed sword vertically, Saya narrowly deflected the beastkin's lightning-fast strike. "Ugh...!" Her small body couldn't fully absorb the impact and was flung back. However, she managed to maintain her balance. Landing in a low stance, she quickly raised her head and charged forward again with blinding speed.

Valkenhayn was caught off guard again.

"Just a small fry!"

Roaring, Valkenhayn jumped sideways to avoid the approaching white figure. As he was about to jump, the sword still in its sheath swept his supporting leg.

"What...?"

As Valkenhayn was flustered, she aimed a blow at his head with the hilt. Saya aimed for his temple. But it couldn't beat Valkenhayn's reaction. A makeshift club that he had swung up at the last moment deflected Saya's sword.

It wasn't just Saya whose arm was thrown high. Valkenhayn, who had swung his own arm, was also off balance. A small palm from the girl struck into the exposed side of his tightened waist. A muffled voice escaped from Valkenhayn's mouth.

The palm strike to his side was so powerful that it felt beyond what a girl could deliver, as if the nails were sinking in, about to carve out flesh.

Grabbing the wrist that had struck him, Valkenhayn reached out for Saya's neck. However, with some agile movement, Saya slipped away from his grasp like a prey evading the fangs of a predator, stepping back lightly.

It felt like he was being toyed with. Unpleasantly, Valkenhayn dashed toward the girl, who was waving her sleeves annoyingly, and struck her with a fierce punch. Saya narrowly dodged the upward thrust aimed at her torso. In quick succession, Valkenhayn's foot roared as it smashed through a pile of stacked materials in one blow.

But Saya couldn't be caught.

With just a few millimeters left and a split second of difference in speed, the girl slid down to the ground.

"Damn you..."

It was rare to experience such frustrating combat. Valkenhayn's expression grew increasingly grum, feeling as if he were battling an elusive phantom. But his opponent was no illusion. She was a flesh-and-blood human. That was what made her so irritating.

Saya mockingly tilted her head, as if to say he was slow. Her small gestures stirred Valkenhayn's blood. Transforming back into a wolf, he lunged at the impudent little girl.

Kicking off the ground with his front legs, Valkenhayn closed in on Saya with a speed incomparable to his human form. Gasping, Saya thrust her sword into the jaws of the beast. Valkenhayn's fangs bit into the sheath with enough force that they almost snapped the blade. He then shook his head violently, tossing the girl effortlessly into the neighboring lot.

Next to her stood an old, gray building. Saya, blown away along with the white covering from the construction site, managed to leap in the air just before crashing into the filthy wall. Saya looked up, her long hair swinging wildly. At that moment, a massive wolf lunged at her.

Leaping with the speed it had gained from running on all fours, it transformed back into the strong young man mid-air. With that momentum, he swung his arm down.

Like a crusher breaking concrete, Valkenhayn's fist shattered the wall of the building, sending gray dust swirling into the air.

Valkenhayn clicked his tongue loudly in the curtain of dust that obscured his vision. He had missed her.

Saya kicked off the wall, jumped up, smashed through the glass, and escaped into the second floor of the building. Valkenhain caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye, growled low, and leapt to the second floor window, determined not to let her escape.

The broken glass pointed its sharp edge inward, but he didn't care. He smashed through it and entered the building. It must have been some kind of store. It was a dark, dusty, empty floor with several empty steel shelves left in disarray. There were no signs that anyone had been there for a long time. Valkenhayn stepped onto the thin layer of dust.

And at that moment, a sharp sound cut through the air from the wall. There was no hesitation in the slash. To kill. Aiming for the neck. To slash it diagonally in a thick stroke.

Driven by a chilling fear that ran through him, Valkenhayn threw himself to the ground and rolled across the dusty bags. Fortunately, the part of his body that had been struck still had its head attached. But he hadn't been able to dodge completely. The blade had grazed his shoulder and cut into his flesh, leaving a vivid sensation and a shallow cut.

"Hmm… this is interesting." Relius voiced his intrigue as he came upstairs, using the wall and the doll's arm as a staircase. "I'm becoming more and more curious."

"Shut up! Don't butt in!" Valkenhayn yelled roughly, touching his wounded shoulder and smearing his palm in reddish-black blood. He didn’t like getting cut. But Relius continued without a care as he moved to his new audience seat, a corner of the floor.

"Don't get restless. It's about time, anyway." The word "time" elicited a reaction not from Valkenhayn, but from Saya. She swung the unsheathed sword, wiping the blood from its tip, and rubbed her feet on the floor to measure the distance. It was a cautious movement unlike any she had made before.

The small, deadly blade was wary. As Relius's words had indicated, she was wary of "time".

"Little girl… how much longer can you move?" Perhaps she has temporarily enhanced her physical abilities with some kind of magic. Valkenhayn, who had felt a persistent sense of discomfort during their exchange, asked in a low voice.

Instead of answering, Saya sheathed her sword, stepping back into a stance with her hands on the hilt. It wasn’t a sign of surrender; it was the opposite.

"I don't know what kind of spell it is, but you were the one who attacked first. Don't expect mercy now!"

If that was her intention, then there was no need to hold back. Valkenhayn dashed across the narrowed battlefield. He stepped in forcefully and struck with his fist, grazing a soft fabric—it was the sleeve of Saya’s kimono. Next, he unleashed a horizontal roundhouse kick. Using his lowered leg as a pivot, he arced his long leg downwards from a high position.

Each blow was strong enough to kill an ordinary man, yet they were terrifyingly fast. But Saya ducked, or parried with her scabbard, and slipped away. She was still too fast. He couldn't catch her.

Though he grazed her toes, Valkenhayn's flurry of strikes failed to land a solid hit. However, during one of his many upward kicks, Saya was caught.

"Ugh..."

Saya was unable to evade in time and had to catch it with her upraised arm. It wasn't so much a defense as she was slammed into the wall behind her. A faint crack ran through the gray wall that caught her. In the center of that crack, Saya was lightly embedded in the wall, resembling a butterfly caught in a spider's web.

Valkenhayn quickly closed the distance.

"I won't kill you. But you won't be moving for a while." Leaping out in front of Saya, Valkenhayn said in an angry voice and thrust out his fist with tremendous speed.

"Wh-what!?" The next moment, Valkenhayn's eyes widened in surprise.

What his swung fist shattered was not the girl's consciousness, but the cold wall that had spiderweb-like cracks running through it. The surface, already weakened from the first strike, crumbled under Valkenhayn's second punch, engulfing his fist halfway up his arm. Beneath the embedded arm, there was a hint of a smile.

"Oh… good. You finally stopped." In a childish yet strangely eerie voice, Saya whispered from between the wall and Valkenhayn.

Saya, who seemed unable to escape from the wall she was slammed into, slipped and crouched low just before Valkenhayn's fist touched her.

"You, still...!" Thinking she was still going to fight, Valkenhayn tried to pull his arm out of the wall. But faster than that, Saya stood up.

The sword was not in her hand. She had left the sheathed sword at her feet, and Saya smoothly wrapped her unarmed hands around Valkenhayn's arm.

And then.

"Wh-what the...!?"

Suddenly, Valkenhayn's knees buckled and he collapsed.

A severe dizziness made him lose his balance and his legs trembled. As if to help Valkenhayn, who was barely able to support himself, Saya held onto the arm that was still embedded in the wall.

Valkenhayn bared his teeth at the sight. His strength, no, something more fundamental, was being sucked away from him by the girl's hand touching him.

"That's… Soul Eater!" From a distance, Relius exclaimed in surprise. While listening to his partner's unusual voice with dulled hearing, Valkenhayn was finally unable to stand and lost his human form. He was forcibly transformed from a strong young man into a giant wolf.

Thanks to this change, his arms reshaped, and he was naturally freed from the wall, but Saya's hands continued to cling to him.

Soul Eater. The worst kind of Drive that drains the life force from others.

Valkenhayn, who had only heard of its existence, felt a deep sense of despair as he was held by two thin arms…

The girl stared at him as she caught him and held him down with her hands. How could he have predicted that such a child would possess Soul Eater? It was a Drive that he had doubted even existed.

"Aren't you going to help me? I'm going to die, you know?" While still holding one of the wolf’s front legs that had collapsed to the floor, Saya turned her face toward Relius, who stood behind her. A smile was on her lips.

The damage from Valkenhayn’s kick had long since faded. She had fully healed from the life force she had absorbed. If she continued, the wolfman would eventually die.

Even though he had a life force vastly superior to that of a human, life is finite. Once it was completely drained, that would be the end.

The wolf, slumped helplessly on the floor, could not shake off Saya's hand, which was holding him down with much more strength than it appeared. However, Relius did not move from the spectator area along the wall. On the contrary, he leaned against the wall and chose to watch.

"What a pity..." Relius muttered quietly to no one in particular. His gloved fingers, crossed over his arms, moved up and down as if counting something. Suddenly, those fingers stopped.

"Time's up." The moment Relius sighed with regret, Saya's knee buckled with a dull thud.

"Damn it..." Furrowing her brow in distress, Saya clung to Valkenhayn's arm. But the power she had moments ago was gone. Now, it was just a frail girl trying to hold down a massive wolf.

"The time limit is three minutes... I’ll have to investigate what kind of techniques you’re using to enhance your physical abilities, but it seems the backlash is quite significant. From the looks of it, even standing must be difficult for you. It’s hardly a practical technique."

With his covered eyes, Relius said in a calm, monotonous tone, as if he were observing Saya's condition and simply stating the results.

Ignoring Relius's continuous commentary, Valkenhayn raised the beast's head vigorously. He got up by lifting his rounded back, returned to human form, twisted his body, and threw Saya off his arm.

Thrown to the other side of the wall, Saya landed on the floor without trying to catch herself. With a small groan, Saya tried to get up. But her arms trembled on the floor, struggling to support even her light weight.

"What a shame... If I only had a little more time." Saya muttered resentfully as she dragged herself up, letting out ragged breaths.

If only there had been a little more time, she could have completely drained his life force. That was the logic of the Grim Reaper.

Saya, lying on the floor, uttered those eerie words with complete sincerity. Valkenhayn, stumbling but determined, took a large step forward.

"Soul Eater... I see. Now that I know you’re a user, I can't just let you be."

"Valkenhayn. Don't kill her." Relius called out to the wounded beastman, as if to remind him. But Valkenhayn didn't even turn his head. He didn't hear Relius's words. He took a few more steps, his feet moving to close the distance.

Saya pulled herself up with all her might. But no matter how much life force she had taken, he was a beastman. Their biological foundations were different.

​​The wolfman's speed did not wane. Saya, on the other hand, could barely lift herself up, and her beloved sword was far out of reach.

With a wolf's roar, Valkenhayn raised his hand with sharp, gleaming claws. His arm would tear skin, crush flesh, and shatter bone. There was no mercy, no compassion. His sharp claws tore through the air for only one purpose: to kill his prey.

And then—

"Uraaah!" A young man's voice rang out as a dark figure leaped in and landed a rough kick on the side of Valkenhayn's face.

Part 3

The dusty floor made a rough, gravelly sound as Naoto landed.

The old, dilapidated building was on the verge of ruin, with only the tenant signs remaining, and the inside was empty except for the snack bar in the basement.

Naoto jumped through a broken window into a former video shop on the second floor, losing his balance and brushing his hand against the floor as he raised his face.

The room was filled with a dreary atmosphere, with empty steel shelves toppled over, leaning against the walls like a failed game of dominoes. The floor was quite spacious, but two thick pillars in the center and abandoned shelves and cardboard boxes made it feel much more cramped than it really was.

The air was dusty, and breathing it in made him want to cough. Amidst all this, Naoto spotted the tall man he had just kicked and glared at him with strong hostility. In his line of sight was a tall man with wild, unruly hair swept back.

Valkenhayn Hellsing. A beastman who could transform into both a wolf and a human, and a slayer of the undead hired by the Mitsurugi Agency. On the sleeves of his deep-colored suit, there was a whitish scuff from Naoto's sneaker treads.

"Weren't you guys supposed to be hunting immortals!? What the hell are you doing getting serious with a kid in such a deserted place, you pervert!"

"You are...Naoto Kurogane. Did you come here to be killed?" Valkenhayn's eyes, filled with contempt at Naoto's scornful words, were now ablaze with hostility and a fighting spirit.

Naoto was taken aback for a moment when his name was called, but he quickly figured out how the other man knew. Kiiro must have told him. The mere thought of the mysterious woman from the Mitsurugi Agency, who wasn't here, gave Naoto a nasty, sticky feeling in his chest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Raquel gracefully descending from the remnants of the tenant space. Just her presence seemed to brighten the air, likely due to her otherworldly and noble aura.

Wrinkling her nose in disgust at the dusty, unclean room, Raquel looked around as if inspecting it. Her gaze landed on a man standing alone, his eyes obscured by a black band.

"So you’re not nestled under the boy's arm today." Realizing the words were directed at her, Raquel stared intently at the blindfolded man, Relius.

"Relius Clover..."

He was the Immortal Breaker targeting her father, Clavis Alucard, alongside Valkenhayn. However, after examining him from head to toe as if seeing through him, Raquel furrowed her finely shaped eyebrows in confusion.

"…No, it’s not you." Raquel seemed to be searching for something in the room. But Naoto, with his blood boiling, was too focused on the situation to care or even notice.

Ever since Haruka had invited him to go grocery shopping and Raquel had suddenly murmured about feeling a presence, Naoto had been searching for a Drive user who might be causing trouble somewhere. He had even flown into the sky with Raquel to find the scene, only to find this situation.

He wasn’t sure why Saya and Valkenhayn were fighting. It was clear they both had a tendency to resort to violent and reckless means to resolve issues. One of them must have started the fight.

(Probably Saya…)

Glancing back at his sister over his shoulder, Naoto’s expression twisted bitterly. Saya still couldn't get up. She sat slumped, her kimono soiled by dust, hands pressed to the floor. It must have been tough for her to stay upright.

Her thin shoulders trembled, rising and falling with rough breaths. Her face was pale, and she didn’t look like a girl who could wield a katana. Yet, the spark of fighting spirit still burned in her expression as she looked up at Naoto with accusing eyes.

"Brother...you shouldn't have..."

"Don't be ridiculous! What shouldn't I have done? You're the one who's been doing something stupid!"

Raquel turned around in surprise at Naoto's sudden outburst. Saya was intimidated and fell silent. Naoto clenched his fists tightly, trying to suppress the emotions that were raging inside him.

"You suddenly show up at my house, and then I don't hear from you for a while, and then I find out you're fighting some freak like this. What the hell were you thinking? You said you were going to kill me, and now you want to kill yourself? You idiot!"

Saya Terumi was a symbol of dark, heavy, painful memories for Naoto. Because of her, their parents died. Many relatives, as well as those who worked in their home, were gone. People he loved, those he didn’t care for much, people he had fought with, and those who had inspired him—all of them died because of Saya.

Saya had killed them all.

And yet…

"You're always causing trouble… Don’t mess with me, damn it..." Naoto spat out the words resentfully.

And yet, he thought of her as his sister, as family.

He hated her, wanted to stay away from her, and didn't want to see her face, but the moment he saw her about to be finished off by Valkenhayn, it felt like a knife had been plunged through his body. He had moved instinctively to help her.

His worry turned into an anger he couldn’t contain. Gathering his rage toward Saya, Naoto glared at Valkenhayn with fierce intensity.

Memories of the fear from their first encounter flooded back—his pierced abdomen, his crushed legs. Just recalling it made his stomach tighten.

He had been beaten so thoroughly back then. Even though he had become somewhat capable of fighting the Apostles, Naoto couldn’t believe he could hold his own against Valkenhayn now.

But he couldn’t back down.

"Ha, shall we go for a rematch? If you're feeling motivated, I won't hold back."

"You've got some spirit, kid. Alright then, this time I’ll crush your head and finish you off.” In response to Naoto's lighthearted provocation, Valkenhayn returned with serious killing intent. Ideally, he would have preferred if Valkenhayn would simply leave in disgust, but seeing Valkenhayn get ready for a fight, Naoto made up his mind.

(I’ll have Raquel take Saya and escape, and then I’ll find a way to get away too!)

He resolved to do just that.

However, just as the fire was about to be ignited, the voices of two who stepped forward suppressed it.

“Wait, Naoto.”

“Hold on, Valkenhayn.”

Both spoke with a strong tone that left no room for argument.

Naoto and Valkenhayn were both caught off guard by the simultaneous calls from two directions.

“Hey, what’s going on…”

"Be quiet… I sense the presence of the Azure. And it's approaching rapidly..." Raising a small hand to stop Naoto from interrupting, Raquel focused her attention with a very urgent expression. As if listening to an almost inaudible sound, her red eyes darted from left to right.

Perhaps it was because of the unusual situation, or perhaps because they sensed something strange like Raquel, Relius and Valkenhayn also fell silent and spread their senses around them.

With a snap, Raquel turned to Naoto.

“Your sister and Valkenhayn. The collision of their powerful Drives has intensified the remnants of Azure in this area to an abnormal degree. And the Azure remnants attract the Azure’s power. The stronger it is… do you understand?”

“Ah, just skip to the conclusion. We’re in a hurry, aren’t we?”

“Right now, this place is an incredibly conspicuous abnormal zone for anyone involved with the Azure… especially for those searching for the presence of Azure.”

“So, the conclusion!”

"Spinner will sense it." As soon as Racquel uttered that name, the window outside, where Naoto had jumped in, suddenly lost its brightness and turned black. Naoto hurriedly turned around. It was definitely not sunset. The sun was setting, but even at night, it wouldn’t plunge into darkness outside.

Yet all that filled Naoto’s sight was pure black.

As if seeping out from the cracks in the floor, the black was covering the window and the surrounding walls.

The black wasn’t outside the window. It was inside.

Naoto recognized that strange darkness. He had seen it in the hallway of the night school. It was the mass of darkness that Spinner had brought with him, which had devoured and swallowed people whole.

“You…!” Instinctively stepping forward, Naoto shielded Raquel behind him.

The darkness spread gradually, moving with a creepy motion. From within the depthless black, countless arms shot out with the force of water bursting from a breached dam.. The long, shadow-like arms reached straight out and grabbed Saya, who was frozen in place, pulling her into the darkness with the same force they had when they emerged.

“Wha– Saya!!”

Before Saya could even scream, she was enveloped and vanished. Naoto screamed as if his throat was being ripped open and rushed forward. He never expected Saya would be the target.

His thought process was in chaos, wondering why. Driven by a desperate urge, Naoto lunged into the darkness without a second thought. He heard Raquel's cry to stop, but he didn't care. He reached out into the darkness, trying to grab its edge, even though he didn't know if he could. But the shadow slipped through Naoto's fingers like liquid and slid out of the window.

"Wait! Saya!" Naoto immediately chased after her, leaning out of the window. The darkness slid up the wall, making a sound like dragging a sandbag. And on the rooftop, he saw a figure. A man with a sinister, gaunt face, dressed in a black suit with his gray hair neatly combed.

Spinner Superior.

He gave Naoto a contemptuous glance before turning away without a word, retreating deeper onto the rooftop. Following him, the darkness also vanished from Naoto’s view.

"Damn it… damn it!"

He couldn’t run along the walls. Naoto leaped from the second floor without hesitation. He raced up the emergency stairs at full speed.

(Why… why Saya! Why her!)

She had nothing to do with him and Raquel. Did he intend to take her hostage? For what purpose?

(I don't understand!)

His heart pounded and he was having trouble breathing. Forgetting about normal breathing, he ran in a frenzy and kicked open the door to the rooftop.

When he burst out onto the rooftop of the dilapidated building, there was no one there.

The western sky was dyed crimson.

Night was about to fall.

Tonight was supposed to be a full moon.

Back to Chapter 9: Intervention

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